A new life
by AnFan-n-More
Summary: Ranma's dead, Nerima's people will grieve and/or cheer, but what's with this large cat that's appeared and where is it going? Ranma, Sailor Moon AU , Gold Digger probably end up AU .
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma, Sailor Moon or Gold Digger. There is no money being made off of this story. It is a work of fanfiction and hopefully a form of compliment to the authors of the original works. This is presented solely for the entertainment of the fanfic community.

* * *

"Ranma no Baka!"

Akane slams Ranma under the chin with her mallet sending him straight up through the roof.

"Akane" Nabiki says, "you're really going to have to get control of your anger." Watching Akane mallet Ranma had long since lost its entertainment value, and she was actually feeling very sorry for him. She had even started to cut back on her own teasing. Particularly since she'd heard the details of the events at Jusendo, and learned that Ranma seemed to have brought Akane back from the brink of death.

Now normally being struck by Akane's mallet had little effect on Ranma anymore. Especially after having experienced this for over a year. However, Ranma had just gotten home from a large battle involving all of his rivals, including Taro, and this time the hit was enough to cause him to loose consciousness. Which was very unfortunate because there was no arc to his trajectory, and he ended up falling straight back down.

Tragically, on his way back through the roof of the Tendo home he brought a roof beam down to the floor with him which, with it's jagged end, embedded itself into and through his chest emerging out his back.

Nabiki and Akane just stared in shock at the sight for seconds before Akane screams out in horror at the top of her lungs.

Kasumi, returning from a shopping trip is almost home when she hears the scream. Dropping her bags she runs the rest of the way home bursting into the Living Room seeing Nabiki staring in shock at Ranma's body and Akane screaming and crying hysterically.

Just as Kasumi enters there is a flash of light from Ranma's body and a very large black cat, somewhat larger than any of the big cats in the zoo, rolls across the floor ending up near Kasumi's feet causing her to back up, though she can't take her eyes off of the body.

Sitting up on its haunches, the cat looks at Ranma's body and stares. At this point Akane feints and falls to the floor. Nabiki just stares at Ranma's body, still in shock and unable to think, her mouth hanging open.

Kasumi seeing the body, realizes who it is and starts screaming softly, getting louder and louder "No, Nono, Nonononononoooooo!", and falls to her knees sobbing, covering her face with her hands.

* * *

Earlier,

Ranma stumbles from the fight having just run Taro off. _'That coward always flies away claiming he isn't beaten.'_ The rest of the fighters had been knocked out earlier in the fight. _'Heh, that was a good fight. Haven't had one of those in a while,'_ he thinks to himself. _'After Saffron, nobody's really wanted to get into a fight with me, and pops sparing hasn't been real challenging for a while. Guess they figured since they were all there they had a chance.'_ Looking down at the cuts and bruises covering his body he continues thinking _'Taro must not know of the battle with Saffron yet. He started right in as if nothing's changed. Everyone else has been nervous and unwilling to spar since then. Just my luck everyone was in the area and decided since he'd started it, they'd join in to._' He smirks to himself, _'Still didn't do them any good.'_

Deciding he was sore and tired, he thought it was a good time to head home and take a nice long soak in the furo.

"Tadaima" he calls out as he enters the Tendo home. Nabiki is just getting up from the couch and looks to be heading into the kitchen, and Akane is just coming downstairs.

"Looks like you've just been run over by a truck Ranma" Nabiki smirks. "So, what are the details so I can see who's won the latest betting pool".

Ranma sees the smirk, and wonders if it's his imagination or if they've been getting warmer lately.

Akane meanwhile knowing that Ryoga is the only one who can give Ranma a challenge anymore yells out, "Have you been picking on Ryoga again! You know he's been very nice to you since we came back from China!"

Now Ranma has been trying more and more to avoid arguments with Akane since the failed wedding in an effort to improve their relationship. However, being tired and very sore he just can't keep his mouth shut this time. "Whada ya mean 'picking on Ryoga'! He's the one who saw me fightin with Taro and just had to join in bringing everyone else with him!"

Akane has also been trying to be nicer to Ranma since the failed wedding. Especially since the other fiancees had been avoiding him after destroying it. This had just come to an end however, when both Shampoo and Ukyo had visited earlier to try and make up with Ranma, by bringing food. Of course this lead to an argument that ended just short of a battle and Akane was now in a foul mood. The only reason it didn't deteriorate into a fight was that Shampoo and Ukyo remembered the large repair bills that Nabiki had delivered to the two of them for the costs of repairs following the wedding.

"I'm too tired for this Akane, just let me get to the furo and I'll be out of your way!" Ranma sighs grumbling to himself about how unfair it is. Just how much effort does it take for Akane to start trusting him.

Akane, falling into habit, reaches for her mallet and lashes out in anger.

"Ranma no Baka!"

* * *

AN: OK, woke up and had this wonderful idea for a story (in other words a cool dream) and I hadn't even seen it written up here yet. Hopefully it has and original take on what are probably already well used tropes. Probably won't be able to tell till I've gotten a few more chapters up. I was able to convince myself that I should write it down so that I didn't forget it, and got tired of using a pen and paper. Then after typing in what I had written down so far, I found that it sounded even better than it had in my head (I'm always my own worst critic). Because of this I've decided to _try_ to get past my problem with being a perfectionist and just see what kind of reaction I get from the fanfiction community by posting it. I was afraid it was going to sound wooden and script-like.

I will try to spend time expanding this work. I'm afraid of how long it may be between updates though. Reading from a laptop screen as much as I have been lately has become tiring on my eyes, and maybe this will be a good method of taking a break from just reading others stories.

Because this involves a crossover and I haven't plotted out the different areas that are impacted by events in the story, this may lengthen the time between updates. I really want to avoid flashback chapters. So in order to keep all areas impacted by events in the story running alongside each other smoothly I may have to either sit down and draw up a plot *shudder* or I'll just be writing along editing and reediting until it becomes smooth enough for me to feel comfortable publishing it.

I also do not have access to any of the Gold Digger comics. Because of this the story will probably not contain a lot of elements from those comics, at least at first. After I've done more reading of Gold Digger fanfics this may change.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma, Sailor Moon or Gold Digger. There is no money being made off of this story. It is a work of fanfiction and hopefully a form of compliment to the authors of the original works. This is presented solely for the entertainment of the fanfic community.

* * *

Feeling an unbelievable pain in his chest, Ranma tries to cry out but can't seem to find the breath for it. He knows that he's been the victim of Akane's mallet again, but never before has he felt a pain like this. The pain won't end, and he has the feeling that if he doesn't escape it, when it does end he won't be feeling anything anymore.

Searching with his ki he finally finds what's wrong. He can't believe it, there is simply no way he can heal from the damage he senses in his torso. In fact, the only reason he is still able to think at all seems to be his enormous ki reserves. And those are dwindling fast. He has to escape. There must be a way. He's not ready to die yet.

Searching deeper and deeper he looks for a way to escape what appears to be his final moments. Only going deeper doesn't seem to be finding him any answers. He decides to expand his search, looking outward for anything that might provide an escape.

Ranma's consciousness isn't the only part of him that is looking for a way to survive. That part of him that was created during the Neko-ken, his feline self, is also looking for a way to escape what looks like inevitable doom. Together Ranma and his feline self sense it. Another form of energy besides the ki that is his life force. Reaching out, neither part of him is able to fully encompass this energy. It feels familiar, but he doesn't remember where he's sensed it before. His ki reserves are now only half what they once were and falling fast. He must pull this energy to himself in case it can save him.

He won't give up. He will struggle till the end. Ranma Saotome doesn't loose, and he will use all his will and strength to fight against this end. Sensing that he is only using a portion of his mind and will to reach for this energy, he starts to expand his consciousness. His feline self senses this effort and realizing that it's the only option for survival, joins forces with Ranma's conscious mind in the effort for survival. Merging together, Neko-Ranma is finally able to encompass the energy he senses. Pulling it into his being he finally realizes what it is. The energy is the combined elements of all the magic that Ranma has been subjected to throughout his life. The curse, the wishes, the potions, even magics he doesn't remember the origins of, everything that has left it's mark on his body and soul.

It's almost too late. Using all he is, and all he has, Neko-Ranma gathers together his ki and the magical energy he's found and throws it at the wound in his torso trying to fix his broken body. He does not want to die. With a flash of light, he finds himself rolling along the floor. Pulling himself into a siting position, he realizes that he has succeeded in cheating death. He can feel it, he's breathing again. The pain is gone, though he is still very weak.

Looking outside himself once more he is shocked at what he sees. He sees his own body in front of him, with a large beam of wood sticking up through his torso. There is a large pool of blood forming around it on the floor. _'What the... if I'm breathing, then what's my body doing there on the floor'_ Looking down at his hands, he realizes that he doesn't have any. They are paws. He sees black fur, and knows that something is not right. _'Oh no! What's happened!'_ Looking along his body he sees that his feet have also become paws, and behind his paws... _'Ahh a Tail! Nononononono, this is not right!'_ Expecting to panic he closes his eyes for a second. But nothing happens. Not only is he not panicking, this feels right somehow.

At this point Nabiki screams and starts crying, startling Neko-Ranma out of his self examination. Looking around he sees Nabiki and Kasumi sobbing in grief, and what looks like Akane's feet behind the table. _'No, what am I going to do! I can't help like this. I'm a Cat for crying out loud.'_ Deciding that he can't help, and doesn't want to cause any additional disruption, Neko-Ranma decides to move into the kitchen to sort out what's going on and how he's going to deal with it.

* * *

Hearing Nabiki scream and start crying Kasumi starts pulling herself together and moves forward to reach for Ranma's neck checking for a pulse, though she knows it's futile. The beam sticking out of Ranma's back is way to large to allow him to survive the injury. Looking around she sees Nabiki sobbing with her arms crossed over her chest, hugging herself. Deciding that there is nothing she can do for Ranma, Kasumi walks unsteadily around the table and sees Akane passed out on the floor. Checking on her Kasumi decides she is in no immediate danger and moves to get help from the only source she can think of. Picking up the phone she dials Dr. Tofu.

"Hello can I help you?" she hears after dialing his clinic.

"Dr. Tofu, it's Kasumi. You've got to come over. There's been an accident. Ranma is dead. Akane is unconscious, and Nabiki seems to be in shock. Please, please, you've got to come over."

There's silence on the line for a few moments, then "Kasumi, I'll be right over. Where are your father and Mr. Saotome?"

"I don't know. I don't see them, I just got home." Kasumi says, while still crying loudly.

"Kasumi, take care of Nabiki and Akane, I'll be right there. Can you do that?"

"Y Yes, I think I can do that. Please hurry."

"I'll be right there. Just hold on and I'll be there as soon as I can."

After hearing the click of the disconnected call when Dr. Tofu hangs up, Kasumi holds the receiver to her ear a moment longer till she is able to move again and shakily hangs it up. Moving over to Nabiki she tries to get her attention. Having no success she turns Nabiki towards her and pulls her into a hug. Nabiki's arms flash around Kasumi and her sobs get even louder.

"Oh Kasumi, he's dead, he's dead!" Nabiki wails.

"I know Nabiki, I know." waiting a little bit to see if Nabiki can calm down she says, "Nabiki, Nabiki! Can you help me get Akane up to her bed." After a few moments Nabiki nods her head yes, then reluctantly pulls herself away from her sister and looks over to Akane. "After we get her up to her bed, please, tell me what happened."

"Oh OK, you take her right arm, I'll take her left." They lever Akane into a sitting position, than slowly stand to carry her up to her room and place her in her bed.

Leaving Akane's room, neither one of them want to go back downstairs yet, so they move into Nabiki's room, both of them with tears still trailing down their faces. "Nabiki, tell me what happened" Kasumi asks gently.

"Oh Kasumi, it was the same as always." Nabiki started in between sobs "Ranma came in looking like he'd been in a fight. Akane was angry because Shampoo and Ukyo had come over earlier. Akane blamed Ranma for picking a fight with Ryoga and Ranma snapped back that it wasn't his fault, and then said he was tired and wanted to soak in the furo. Akane lashed out in anger and hit Ranma with her mallet sending him up through the roof. He must have been unconscious because he came back down without any control and fell back through the roof, landing on that roof beam." At this point, Nabiki lost control again and started sobbing on Kasumi's shoulder. "What are we going to do? What are we going to do?" she wailed.

"I don't know Nabiki. Dr. Tofu is on his way over. All we can do is take it one step at a time." Kasumi said while she herself cried on Nabiki's shoulder.

* * *

AN: Gah! This is much different than I originally envisioned it. I haven't even gotten to the part that I wanted to write yet and it looks like the Tendo Home is going to drown in tears! Really, this story was supposed to be about friendship. I'll even give a bit away and tell you that I intended for Ranma to make his way to Juuban and become friends and guardian to Hotaru in her non-senshi life!

Really, I didn't realize this was going to be this much of a tearjerker. The whole story was supposed to come out of the idea that cats have nine lives, and that having Ranma die would allow him to move on to a new life! Really, I didn't realize it would be so painful. *sigh*

Ah well, I'm going to try to keep the chapters flowing, so I'm going to publish this without nit picking it to death. If you spot errors, please feel free to let me know.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma, Sailor Moon or Gold Digger. There is no money being made off of this story. It is a work of fanfiction and hopefully a form of compliment to the authors of the original works. This is presented solely for the entertainment of the fanfic community.

* * *

After hanging up the phone with Kasumi, Dr. Tofu immediately placed a call to have an ambulance sent to the Tendo home. Rushing to grab an assortment of supplies he might need, he places a sign on the door stating he was out on an emergency and decided to take his car in case additional transportation was needed.

Arriving before the ambulance, Dr. Tofu doesn't even bother knocking due to the nature of the emergency, and his concern over the people involved.

Entering the home, he quickly removes his shoes and calls out "Kasumi? Nabiki?" as he moves into the living room. Spotting Ranma's body, it is obvious that he couldn't have survived the injury he's taken. Looking towards the stairs, he misses the site of a large feline head looking out from the kitchen.

"Dr. Tofu!" Kasumi cries out. In the time it's taken for him to reach the house both Kasumi and Nabiki have calmed down quite a bit. Though Nabiki still seems to be stunned and unable to focus.

Helping Nabiki lay down on her bed, Kasumi rushes out of her room and down the stairs. Meeting Dr Tofu at the staircase.

"Kasumi, how are you holding up? How are your sisters" he asks.

Kasumi almost breaks down again, but realizes that someone has to hold themselves together and start dealing with what needs to be done. "I I'm OK for now. Please take a look at Akane. She's still unconscious, and I don't know, but she doesn't seem to be doing well. Nabiki is awake, but is still in a bit of shock. I'll stay here and keep Nabiki company. I don't want to leave her alone right now."

Kasumi has also seen the warmth that Nabiki has been showing lately in her smirks at Ranma, and she just knows that she is taking this harder than her 'Ice Queen' persona would lead one to believe she could. She had checked on Akane recently and she still appeared to be unconscious, though she did not like the pallor that she had seen when she checked her over.

"OK, I've called an ambulance. It should be here soon." he replies.

Trusting Kasumi's judgment, Dr. Tofu moves to Akane's room to check on her.

Moving back into the room, Kasumi sees Nabiki looking up at her. "Nabiki?" she says, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Oh Kasumi, how could we have let things get to this point!" Nabiki cries. "He seemed so invulnerable. How could this have happened!" breaking into sobs again she covers her face with her hands.

"Shhh Shhhh now. Here, sit up." Circling Nabiki with her arms again she begins rocking back and forth. "I know,... Ranma seemed to bounce back from everything, no matter what was thrown at him. But he was only human. It seems we forgot that fact." Taking her handkerchief she wipes the tears from Nabiki's eyes again.

Crying softly Nabiki replied, "yes, but he killed a God, or a Demigod. How could something so stupid as a careless lashing out in anger be what takes him from us."

"WHAT!" cries Kasumi her eyes widening while she holds Nabiki out at arms length, "What do you mean he's killed a God!"

"Oh,... nobody's told you yet what happened on everyone's last trip to China, have they."

"No! How could anyone, even Ranma, kill a God Nabiki!"

Sighing, Nabiki decides that she can pull herself together to at least tell a little bit of the story. "Well, in order to save Akane, he apparently had to fight Lord Saffron. Saffron was a Phoenix, an immortal being who easily regenerated damage, even lost body parts, and had control over enormous amounts of power in the form of fire. Because Saffron was arrogant and would not be stopped by anything less, Ranma was forced to fight back with lethal force. Luckily for Ranma Saffron's ashes reverted to an egg, and he will apparently be reborn. I don't know how Ranma would have dealt with it if he had permanently killed him. Ranma told me he felt bad enough, as it was, that he had ended Saffron's current existence."

Kasumi just sat there in awe, pulling Nabiki back into a hug, unable to comprehend what Ranma must have gone through recently.

At this point, there was a knocking at the front door.

"That must be the ambulance that Dr Tofu called, … oh no, I don't know if I can deal with going back downstairs." Kasumi winds down towards the end of her sentence.

"I'll go with you sis"

"Thank you Nabiki"

Making their way to the front door, both glance sadly towards Ranma's body, and give each other a quick hug before opening the door.

"Hello, I'm sorry to intrude, but we were called by a Dr. Tofu for an emergency." stated a young man in an ambulance uniform.

"Yes, please come in" Kasumi replied.

Walking up behind them, Dr. Tofu says "Yes, please do come in. I'm afraid we've got a body for you to bring to the morgue. We also have a young lady that I will be driving to the hospital myself."

"Dr.?" asks Kasumi.

"I'm afraid that Akane woke up hysterical. I had to sedate her, and I will need to take her to the hospital for observation. I don't at all like the way she looked when I was examining her. She was much to pale and appears to be suffering from extreme shock."

"Oh, I see"

"In fact, both of you are looking a bit peaked yourselves. Why don't we move into the kitchen for some tea to settle our nerves, while the ambulance techs here do their job." Saying this, he motions Kasumi and Nabiki into the kitchen.

* * *

Sailor Pluto was not happy. Her unhappiness was not due to a loss of Crystal Tokyo in the future. No, that future still had very good odds of coming to be. In fact recently the odds that Crystal Tokyo would come to be had increased by a marked amount. No, her unhappiness was due to the fact that not only could she not pinpoint what had changed to increase the odds, but also that she was having trouble pinpointing anything at all! Plus there was something puzzlingly different about the Crystal Tokyo pictured in many of the time lines. She just couldn't put her finger on what it was.

"What could possibly have happened to cause the time lines to branch like this!" She fumes. "I can understand a few splittings based on decisions someone important might make, but _thousands!_" Sailor Pluto has yet to learn of the existence of one Ranma Saotome, to whom almost anything seems possible if he sets his mind to it. And it looked like soon he would be coming into contact with the Sailor Senshi. Unfortunately for her, she will not be enlightened any time soon. At least not until she tells herself about it. (A future chuckling is heard in the background.)

* * *

AN: hehe, I know I know, some of you are going to consider me evil for that cliffhanger :) It just felt sooooo right. Next chapter... Here's Ranma! (couldn't resist)

As some of you probably noticed, I don't have a firm grasp of the Japanese culture. Because of this I will not be able to use the Japanese style names or building rooms etc etc. If I make mistakes based on my ignorance, please don't take offense. I've been reading a lot of stories on this site and some of them make me feel inadequate in trying to tell a story that takes place in Japan since I've never been there. I will do my best, but... well I think I've already mentioned somewhere that I'm my own worse critic. I do want to do something creative though, so I'll push through come hell or high water (or in my case extreme anxiety because I'm making mistakes). I will probably make use Ranma-chan for Onna-Ranma during the story. May even try to use it correctly as a form of endearment towards others, like Hotoru-chan. We'll just have to see.

Btw, 'future chuckling'. Best way I could think of to quickly describe Setsuna's humor at her past self.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma, Sailor Moon or Gold Digger. There is no money being made off of this story. It is a work of fanfiction and hopefully a form of compliment to the authors of the original works. This is presented solely for the entertainment of the fanfic community.

* * *

Moving into the kitchen, Neko-Ranma lies down and puts his head on his... paws. _'This is just great! How am I supposed to help the girls if I'm the one that's causing them to cry. It was hard enough trying to help when I was human, without being punched or getting hit with Akane's mallet!'_

Looking at his paws again he thinks to himself, _'It's bad enough that pop never let me learn how to deal with crying girls, but being a cat makes it even harder. And being a _Large_ cat will probably make it even worse. They're likely to just run away scared. What the heck happened anyway! It had to be the magic I tried using to save myself. Stupid magic! It never has been anything but trouble. Stupid pop and his stupid training ideas! I bet it's the fault of the neko-ken training.'_ He sighs again, thinking of what an idiot his father really is. _'Maybe it's time for me to really try breaking away from what he's taught me, outside of the Art.'_

Going back over what's happened in the past few moments, he tries to analyze what exactly has happened to him, _'Hmmm, when I was trying to find a way to survive I felt that there was someone or something else in my mind trying to do the same thing. It felt like a part of me, yet wasn't. Had to have been the neko-ken. Especially considering how things have turned out. Felt like I merged with it. Maybe what Doc said about the way I acted while in the neko-ken being a part of me was true.'_ Sighing, he tries to make himself more comfortable by moving into a corner near the kitchen table and curling up, bending himself almost in half. _'This body sure is flexible.'_

_'This body,'_ he thinks to himself. Looking out of the kitchen, he can just make out the top of what used to be his head with its' black hair and ponytail. _'That's my body over there. And that body is dead. What does this mean. Am I still Ranma Saotome? How am I supposed to figure out where my honor lies now!'_ He growls in frustration at this thought.

_'No! I'm _still_ Ranma Saotome! This is just one more strange mess out of a number of them that have been plaguing me lately in my life. Because of the neko-ken training and all the magic pop has exposed me to in our travels, I can even blame _this _on the stupid panda. I wonder if I still have the curse? That body may be a girl, but at least it's human.'_

Getting up from the floor he moves over to the kitchen sink. He has no problem sitting up and reaching into the sink given how big he is, but getting water seems to be another thing entirely. _'Gah, stupid paws. Maybe if I tried to use both at the same time.'_ After a bit of fumbling and some effort he finally gets the knob to turn, giving him access to cold water. _'Now for the test.'_ Sticking his paw under the faucet up to his elbow he feels the familiar tingle of the curse's change. Unfortunately, he is still starring at a black paw. Looking down at himself, now herself, she realizes that yes, the curse is still with her, but unfortunately instead of changing him into a human girl, she is now a female cat. _'Dang! That's no good.'_

Struggling to turn off the water, she comes to another realization._'Hmph, Ryoga wasn't kidding. Being cursed with a human form really wasn't that bad! Trying to interact with the world as an animal really sucks. I'll have to apologize to him, when I get the chance. At least nobody's going to try to eat me.'_ she smirks to herself.

It was at this point that Dr. Tofu entered the house calling for Kasumi and Nabiki. Looking out of the kitchen she is relieved that someone has come to help the girls. _'Good, now that Doc's here to help, I can stop worrying about them as much and get back to figuring out what I'm going to do next.'_

_'What _am_ I going to do? Nobody's going to recognize me like this.'_ Sighing again, she moves back over to the corner by the table and lies down again, licking the water off of her leg. _'I'll just have to act non-threatening and see if someone can figure out this is me. I'll have to be ready to run, in case they don't. Wish I had paid more attention to how pops made those signs of his when he's in panda form. Who knew something like that would be important! Maybe Kasumi is right and I do have to pay attention to more than just the Art.'_

Grumbling to herself again she lays her head back down on her paws with a sigh. Deciding she needs a way to communicate, she tries to picture all the times she's seen her father pull those signs from wherever he keeps them. She knows she can figure it out if she just puts her mind to it.

* * *

Walking the two girls into the kitchen Dr. Tofu says, "Don't worry about cleaning up. I know someone who can help out with that. I'll just give them a call now. Why don't you make some tea Kasumi and I'll be right back."

Kasumi puts the kettle on the stove to heat while Nabiki sits at the kitchen table. Both sisters are still too out of it to notice the black cat sitting in the corner.

Neither sister having anything to say, Kasumi just stares at the kettle until it begins to whistle. This doesn't take long because the water is kept warm for those occasions when someone needs it to reverse their curse.

Turning around to bring the kettle to the table Kasumi notices the large cat for the first time. Dropping the kettle and taking a step back, she cries out "Oh My!"

Nabiki looks up at her to find out what's wrong.

Ranma doesn't move, trying to look non-threatening.

_'A cat!'_ Kasumi thinks to herself. _'Wait, I've seen that cat before, but where.'_ Furrowing her brows, she finds that trying to think is not an easy thing to do with the shock she's experienced this evening.

"Kasumi?" Nabiki asks.

_'I know where I've seen it! When I ran into the house there was a flash of light from Ranma's body. That cat almost knocked me over! It just didn't register because of the shock I was feeling.'_ "Nabiki, do you know anything about a large black cat?"

Seeing that Kasumi's eyes seemed to be locked onto something, Nabiki looks over. Crying out in shock she yells out "NO!" while jumping out of her chair, into the opposite corner of the kitchen next to her sister.

"Shhh, shhh," Kasumi gestures for her sister to calm down. "It doesn't look like it's going to attack. In fact, I think it looks sad."

"Looks Sad, LOOKS SAD!" Nabiki almost screams out, "That's a freaking panther over there!"

At this point, having finished his call and hearing the commotion in the kitchen, Dr. Tofu rushes back in to see what the problem is. "What's wrong!"

"Calm down Dr. Tofu, I don't think there's anything wrong." Kasumi says in a soothing even voice.

Following the sisters line of sight, the doctor sees the cat for the first time. Not sensing any threat or killer intent, he decides to follow Kasumi's advice and walks slowly over to the girls.

"Kasumi, do you know where that cat came from?" Dr. Tofu asks.

"No,... not really. But maybe..." Kasumi cocks her head to the side trying to look closer at the cat which still hasn't moved, except maybe to look even more dejected.

_'It can't be.'_ Kasumi thinks to herself. _'Ranma's body is in the other room. This can't be Ranma. But than again...'_ "Nabiki?"

"Yes?"

"You did say that Ranma killed a god, right?" Kasumi asks. _'He's done so many impossible things already, could this be another?'_

"Yessss." Nabiki replies slowly.

"You don't think..." cocking her head the other way she moves forward a bit and says tentatively, "Ranma?"

At this point the cat lifts up it's head and slowly nods. Startling both Nabiki and Dr. Tofu.

"No Way!" cries Nabiki. "What makes you think this is Ranma!"

"Well, as I came running into the house after Akane's scream, there was a flash of light and a large cat almost rolled into me. I didn't really realize it at the moment because I was so shocked from seeing Ranma's body on the floor. And I didn't notice it while taking care of Akane and helping you. It must have already moved into the kitchen."

"But how!" Nabiki says.

The cat just puts it's head back down on it's paws, still looking sad.

"I don't know." Kasumi says, slowly moving forward a little more. "Is that really you Ranma?"

The cat lifts it's head again and nods.

Everyone is stunned by this. Especially given the roller coaster ride their emotions have been taking over recent events.

Moving forward some more, Kasumi slowly kneels down on the floor and says again, "Ranma?"

Inching forward, Ranma places her head on Kasumi's lap and is engulfed in a hug while she breaks down crying again. "Oh Ranma, Ranma, Ranma..."

Seeing this Nabiki doesn't know what to think. _'This can't be Ranma! His body is in the other room!'_ Slowly moving toward Kasumi and the panther she thinks to herself, _'Than again, there have been a lot of impossible things happening since Ranma came here to live.'_ "R Ra Ranma?"

The cat looks up at Nabiki and nods it's head again.

Rushing over, Nabiki flings her arms around Ranma and starts crying again herself.

Dr. Tofu doesn't know what to think either. He hasn't been exposed to nearly the amount of strangeness that the Tendos have, so he isn't too sure about the claim that this big cat is Ranma. However, it does look like the girls aren't in any danger, and he needs to get Akane to the hospital. So he says "Kasumi? Nabiki? If you think you're OK here, I need to get your sister to the hospital for observation."

Kasumi looks up at the Doctor and says, "Please, take care of Akane. I'd come with you to the hospital but..." looking back at the cat she doesn't know how to continue.

"I think I understand. Akane will probably be out of it for a while because of the sedative I've given her, so there wouldn't be anything you could do there anyway. My friend Mrs. Yamada will be here soon to help with cleaning up. You two just take it easy, and do try to drink some herbal tea to help calm yourselves." Seeing that they both have their faces buried in the cat's fur, he decides that's all the answer he's going to get and leaves the kitchen to take Akane to the hospital. He decides that he will have to stop back after getting her settled to ensure that everything here is OK.

* * *

AN: As I've said in an update to my profile, I can already see that the first three chapters need to be cleaned up and updated. However, I also noted that I don't want to take two steps back for every one forward. So, that will have to take back seat to completing this story. Maybe once I'm done, I'll go back and re-write the entire thing and publish it again.

Don't worry, Ranma won't be rushing out of Nerima and into Juuban. The reason I placed that part about Sailor Pluto at the end of the last chapter was because that was the point in the story when it occurred. I'm going to try to keep this story as linear as possible.

Also note I've made a change to the stories description. I'm going to try to keep as close as I can to cannon Ranma, but Sailor Moon will definitely be an Alternate Universe, and I'm not sure exactly what part the Gold Digger Universe will play in this story yet.

Update: had to modify a lot of pronouns after the water test :) didn't notice that before I published this chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

New note at the bottom is the only change to chapter.

AN2: I finally was able to upload an HTML file. I then pasted in this chapter. Pain. Kept trying to upload something, didn't want to wait for a response from support. Still don't know why my .odt file wouldn't upload (or other formats, even .txt). Not even the old chapters that had already been uploaded worked anymore. Got an unable to convert error. Oh well.

AN: Yay, a new chapter! I wanted to make it longer, but as I've said in my profile, the demons of Real Life (DRL) have been plaguing me. They've chased off my muse and keep interrupting every time I sit down to write. I finally was able to get a little done in between attacks and thought I'd post it for those eagerly awaiting something new (or those just board and have time to read this :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma, Sailor Moon or Gold Digger. There is no money being made off of this story. It is a work of fanfiction and hopefully a form of compliment to the authors of the original works. This is presented solely for the entertainment of the fanfic community.

* * *

After being hugged and cried on for a few moments Ranma thinks to herself, _'They don't seem to be stopping. How am I supposed to cheer them up as a cat.'_ She sights to herself, starting to get lost in thoughts of how to stop girls from being sad.

Because of this she doesn't realize it when she starts to purr as Kasumi and Nabiki begin petting her. This has the exact impact that she's been looking for, as they stop crying and continue to hug and pet her.

Noticing that the sobbing has stopped, Ranma tries to take stock of her surroundings again. The second thing she notices, after the fact that the girls are no longer crying, is that they are running their hands over the fur on her back and sides, and that it really feels nice. _'Wow, I could get used to this. Ohh, I really like what Kasumi is doing, scratching behind my ears and on the back of my neck like that feels wonderful!'_ Stretching out his legs in front of him, he lets out a low contented and throaty growl. Which is shortly followed by a another rumbling from her stomach.

"Oh my, are you hungry Ranma?" Kasumi asks with a smile. Ranma ducks her head and puts a paw over her face in embarrassment. Laughing brightly she says, "I see that you are!" The smile on Kasumi's face gets even bigger with Ranma's reaction momentarily forgetting all that's happened.

"Oh No!" She says, "I dropped all the shopping outside when I heard Akane scream." This removes her smile again, reminding her of what's been going on. "I'll just run out and pick the bags up so that I can make you something to eat." Noticing that Nabiki has lifted her head up after the exclamation about the shopping, Kasumi asks her, "Could you please heat some more water for tea Nabiki?" thinking it would do her good to be up and moving about.

Getting up to fill and place the kettle back on a burner, Nabiki starts to recover further from her own shock. Thinking to herself that there has now been a major change in the dynamics of the Nerima ward, and that this will impact just about all of her best money making activities, she decides to slip into her standard 'Ice Queen' personage to do some calculations. Unfortunately she was finding that she can't quite get into the role. _'To think, just an hour or so ago I was tallying up the possible debts and payouts on the obvious fight that Ranma had been in. It was business as usual. Given how long it's been since a good fight and the fact that everyone has been avoiding one except that stupid Kuno, the income from the fight he was obviously in had a very good chance of adding significantly to the savings I've been putting away for our home and family.'_

She almost lets out a sob at this point and tears do start to fall down her cheeks. _'Why am I crying? Why am I having such a hard time getting a handle on how this will change the plans and activities I've got running?'_ As she is preparing two cups of tea it begins to dawn on her. There are some things more important than money. There was family of course, but... Ranma wasn't... At this point she is distracted by hearing Kasumi entering the house.

"Oh, Ranma, I'm sorry I didn't think of you." Nabiki says after seeing him in the corner again. "Do you want a cup of tea?"

Ranma stands up and sniffs the tea then winces a little internally, wrinkling his nose _'Too strong, funny Nabiki's never made tea that strong before.'_ Shaking his head to indicate no she sits back down in the corner.

Entering the kitchen with the groceries Kasumi sees the tea and smiles, thanking her sister. Putting away the perishables, and having heard that Nabiki had already offered Ranma tea she asks "Ranma, would you like a bowl of cream till I can get something together for us to eat?"

Trying to shrug, and finding it a difficult thing to do as a cat, Ranma nods his head yes to the cream.

"Oh, by the way Nabiki, where are our fathers, I need to know how much to make."

"We won't be seeing them again until after dark. Unless they stagger in tomorrow morning that is." Nabiki states caustically. _'Honestly, Ranma's father has brought daddy out of his shell a lot more, but the expenses of paying off the bar tabs is getting to be a bit much.'_

"Why won't anyone else be here tonight sis?" Kasumi asks her as she gives Ranma a saucer of the good cream that Nabiki liked in her morning coffee sometimes.

"Well..." She pauses thinking again of the events of the night. "Before everything, Akane had announced to our fathers that she was going to make a special dinner tonight."

"Oh, OK then, it's just us three." Kasumi says as she decides what to make for dinner.

"Kasumi?" Nabiki hesitantly says "What are we going to tell everyone?"

This causes Kasumi to pause and turn around to face the other two occupants of the kitchen. "We'll have to tell them the truth, of course." turning back around and continuing her work.

"That's just the thing sis, what exactly is the truth?"

"Oh, I see your point. Well, I suppose Ranma could respond to questions that only he would know in order to prove who he is."

"While there is that also, it wasn't my point sis. What I was getting at is..." not sure how her sister was going to react to all the consequences of what had happened, she pauses and makes herself another cup of tea. Finally starting to get into an analytical frame of mind she continues.

"Let me put it to you in the worst possible way." Nabiki continues.

"Akane killed Ranma, and the body is in the morgue."

"Ranma being an only child, there is a good chance that Mrs. Saotome could declare blood feud. Good news would be that I couldn't find connections with any other Saotome clans. This could have been cleanup by someone due to Mr. Saotome's actions and I've been hesitant to ask Mrs. Saotome. Bad news would be that Mrs. Saotome won't get her grand-babies."

At this point Kasumi drops the pan she was holding with a large clatter.

"Then there are the Amazons. If it is reported that Ranma was murdered by Akane than at the very least Shampoo would have to kill her. Due to Ranma's defeat of Herb and Saffron he is kind of a hero to the rest of the Amazon tribe, if they are not satisfied with just Akane's death and require more... It could be very bad."

Kasumi barely makes it to a chair and almost falls on the floor.

"This is not even saying how the rest of Nerima and the surrounding wards may react. I may have been able to get away with taking advantage of Ranma while he lived here and was considered part of the family," looking over at the large cat she says "sorry Ranma, nothing personal. Had to cover the bills." looking back at Kasumi, "but, he has had a large impact on the entire ward. Even though his fights may have caused damage in certain areas, crime has become almost non-existent even in the surrounding wards, and I've even heard daddy say that the council has praised him countless times for having the person responsible living in his home."

Putting her head down in her hands and starting to cry Kasumi says "What are we going to do Nabiki!"

"Now, now sis, this is a worst case scenario. That doesn't mean it will happen and we can take steps to make sure it doesn't" At this point Ranma is up and pacing around the kitchen wishing she could contribute to the conversation.

Now having a large cat, almost 3 meters long not counting her tail and well over 200kg, trying to pace in a small room like the kitchen is bound to cause problems. It's when he bumps against Nabiki's chair almost knocking it over that Nabiki finally says to him, "Please sit Ranma, I know you want to give your piece but like I said, this is a worst case scenario and it doesn't mean it will happen."

Blinking a few times at what she's just said, she tries again "Oh, right, we'll have to figure out a way for you to give us your point of view somehow." Ranma nods agreeing with this whole heartedly and decides to put her head on the table near Kasumi and try to purr to calm her down. Hey, it worked earlier.

"Now the first thing we need to do is keep a consistent story of events." Seeing a frown develop on Kasumi's face as she's petting Ranma again Nabiki quickly says, "This doesn't mean that we have to lie! We just have to place things in the best light. Do you truly believe Akane tried to kill Ranma?"

"No, no she wouldn't" Kasumi says.

"OK, then it's not a lie to put things in the best possible light. The first thing to do is remember this was an _accident_." It's at this point that Ranma growls and coughs lightly to try to get attention.

"What's the matter Ranma, oh yeah, you can't communicate well. Lets see." Thinking to herself she tries to come up with a way for Ranma to give his input. "Can you produce signs like your father?" Ranma shakes her head no. "Well, you obviously can't talk. How about write."

Ranma holds up a paw to point out that he doesn't have an opposable thumb to hold the pen.

"Huh? Oh, OK, you can't hold something to write with, but... can you write with your claw if we use ink?"

Looking at her paw, and then back at Nabiki she twists the paw a few times as if to convey that she doesn't know.

"Is it important enough at this point that we experiment?" Nabiki asks, impatient to work out the details of how to save her family.

Ranma nods his head almost vigorously, indicating it is very important.

"_You_ don't think Akane would try to kill you do you?" Shaking his head quickly he indicates no.

"OK, I'll go get some ink and paper to experiment with." Nabiki says in a bit of a huff.

Kasumi decides this is a good time to get back to preparing dinner. Nabiki indicating that things weren't as bad as they seemed, helped her to pull herself together again so she could get back to work.

Entering the kitchen again with the supplies Nabiki tapes a few pieces of paper on the table so they won't move.

"OK Ranma, let me have your paw." she says as she sits in a chair next to the paper. "Not your left paw, idiot, your right handed aren't you?" Bowing his head sheepishly he gives her the other paw, though it is harder because he has to cross his body with it.

Looking over his paw, "I thought so, I'll have to clip some hair so it doesn't get in the ink, though the claw itself looks sharp, without breaks, and clean so I won't have to modify it. I'll put the ink here next to the paper, you try to write out what you want say and I'll continue with how to put this in a good light."

Thinking about it though, Nabiki wasn't all that sure she could put a good spin on events.

After all, there was a body.

Even if they could get this ruled as an accidental death, there were going to be people who were very unhappy. Those close to Ranma's life may accept that he wasn't really dead, but anyone else wouldn't really be able to accept Neko-Ranma as an excuse for not crying bloody murder. Even those who could, may have problems with a Neko-Ranma. How was he supposed to produce grand-babies as he was. Of course, if she played this right, she may be able to get rid of the Amazons.

After all, they did have a body.

At this thought she shakes her head in disbelief at what she has to deal with. Finished cleaning up the hair around his claw she gets on with her explanation.

"Since this was an accident and it was 'one of the family' because Ranma was living here, the official response will not be very bad, if even more than just a report.

"This leaves us with the unofficial responses. I have to admit it's going to take me some time to come up with answers for all the possible reactions that people are going to have to this. It wasn't high on my list of possible scenarios in Ranma's life. All the work I had put into thoughts, and bets, of Ranma's death revolved around one of the others killing him in a fight. Come to think of it, this was a major failing in my planning considering how often Akane has hit Ranma with that mallet." Though she thinks to herself that she'll have to check her ledgers to ensure she collects all outstanding bets. They will probably need the money soon, and she doesn't remember any bets of death by accident.

It's at this point that Ranma coughs to get Nabiki's attention.

Looking over, Nabiki sees that one piece of paper is torn and has a lot of meaningless marks on it, however the other one looks like it has writing, albeit bad writing. Getting up to see what it says, Nabiki is annoyed.

"What do you mean 'Shouldn't have died from that'! Anyone would have died from having a piece of wood that large shoved through their chest!"

Ranma simply points to the next bit of writing, that says 'Taken worse falls after mallet. Consciousness wouldn't matter. Wood shouldn't have penetrated'

"Your kidding right?" Nabiki replies.

Ranma shakes his head no.

"Falling through the roof and landing on a large sharp piece of wood would not have killed you." she says in disbelief.

Ranma just shakes his head again and starts writing 'Happens all time. Nothing new. Tofu knows. Patched up.'

"Dr. Tofu knows you have taken falls like this?" Nabiki questions.

Ranma just nods his head yes again.

"This puts a new light on things. An investigation would give me the time I need to come up with answers for all the people who will want them." Turning to Kasumi she asks "Kasumi, what did you say to Dr. Tofu on the phone?"

Pausing in her preparations she says "I think I said there had been an accident and Akane needed his help."

"OK, that's good. I'll have to get hold of him now and mention what Ranma's said to see if he knows anyone we can get to do an investigation like this. The regular police would never believe that Ranma could have survived things like that even with his reputation and Dr. Tofu's statements. We'll need someone who will dig deeper than the obvious. And we'll have to make sure that Ranma's body is not touched. I've got to make a call." Saying this she leaves the kitchen to call the hospital.

* * *

AN: Having read some really good stories lately, I have to say 'please excuse any out of character actions (OOC) my characters exhibit.' I'm a new writer and will probably break away from what some expect of the characters no mater how hard I try. I am trying to guess how they would react due to extreme emotions. Having said that I will try to keep them in character for the Ranma universe at least. Though, I do have to agree with what I read someplace on this site about everything not published by the owners is non cannon and thus an alternate universe (AU) which would create OOC by default. Wish I could give the author credit for that semi-quote.

I've already stated that Sailor Moon will be an AU, and the Gold Digger portion is also up in the air yet. Don't even have a time frame for that one, and may simply be a visit by a character or two from another universe instead of having them part of the current one. It's mainly in the title and disclaimer because Ranma will be an ailuranthrope and I may use other aspects of that story in the future.

Since I'm stating Sailor Moon is an AU, I've decided that I'm going to go from the Death Busters Arc where Hotaru is reborn and go with something of my own following that. It may or may not contain cannon material. I hope to make this more than just adding another series characters and throwing Mooks at the good guys. (Mooks ref: see tvtropes org or google it)

Also if you are worried about Ranma getting a power-up from this, don't. In fact Ranma has lost quite a lot because of this transformation. Since he is not an ailuranthrope created by Iceron, he may not have all of the same vulnerabilities or invulnerabilities of Iceron's creations. He's also lost the body that he's spent his whole life toughening up and bringing up to the level he needed to defeat Saffron (Note: any and all damage from his fathers training is gone also). I don't even know what he may have gained due to the magic portion of what created his new body. I'm not going to go sending him back to the basic weakness of your average human, but he is not going to be able to just kick butt and take names like always (OK, large cat...never-mind) There's also all the new ki pathways he's going to have to figure out. As to how large Ranma is as a cat... well, you've now found out how big his female side is :)

New Note: Feb 1, 2010

I'm working on the next chapter, but not sure how long it will take me to get it posted. Just thought I'd mention that I had planned on Ranma leaving Nerima and visiting Juuban a long time ago in this story. However, I don't have a clear cut plot in mind, and don't really have more than some ideas on what I want to happen. This story is really writing itself, and I don't think Ranma's Honor will allow him to leave Nerima just yet, he doesn't seem to want to leave. Looks like I have to clear up his relationships there before I can move on. There is plot development that's occurring that was unexpected. Ranma saying that he wouldn't have died from a fall like that came as a complete surprise to me. But if he says it's so, I have to believe him. I mentioned to one reviewer that I had immediately thought that Ryoga and Moose were responsible somehow, but that this wouldn't go anywhere and would be a waste. Because of this, it may end up turning into something more. We'll have to see. I'm not even sure where this story is really going and I'm looking forward to finding out what's going on as much as I'm sure some of you are. The reason I don't know how long it will take to post the next chapter is that my muse still hasn't returned from being chased off by the DRL. Hopefully she'll be back soon, and I am trying to make the chapters longer because some of you have asked for it. Thanks for your reviews, they are the inspiration for my continued writing.


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